Ok ... so you said the exact same thing in two different ways.

i understand that you have two different vehicles with two different engines. one is more sensitive to fuel choice than the other. very easy to believe.

i also understand that the base fuel is all the same with only the additives being different ... this is common knowledge.

what i don't understand is how you can say the "two cupfulls" of additive per 7,000 gallon tanker is "all hype" when you say your ranger gets better mileage on shell.

if it were all hype, then you would not be getting better mileage at shell with ANY vehicle.

if, as you say, 87 octane is 87 octane (which it is not, because around here there is 87 octane e10 and 87 octane regular) then your ranger wouldn't get any different mileage no matter where you fill up.

it seems that you also do not have a firm grasp on what "top tier" means. in your list above, only 2 are top tier. Top Tier Gasoline ive been filling up at Clark, because it is local. there is a name on the banner, does that mean i'm getting a top tier fuel? i think not.

 

Actually, I don't get better mileage with Shell, just better performance because the Ranger doesn't get the bogged down feeling. Second, what is the actual measurable quantity of additives added because I understand them to be very little? Third, I live in Ohio, and all gas stations sell fuel that 'can contain up to 10% ethanol', so ethanol free is impossible to get. Also, to my knowledge, there is no way to determine unless testing what the actual ethanol content is. Shell could be at 5% ethanol, while Speedway could be at 3%, etc. If one brand were better than another, and the additives made a (big) difference, then, everyone who drives regardless of the type of vehicle should notice significant differences between brands. Lastly, why do you frequent a non top tier gas station? I was pretty much under the impression that as long as a driver went to a nationwide station, such as BP, Shell, Sunoco, etc., then, he/she is receiving good quality gas. They add these so called detergents and additives for a reason, and they have their name on the sign. I implied this by saying that I purposely stray from the no-name banner places, such as Fuel Mart, Gas USA, etc. I also won't go to a Sam's Club, or in our area a Giant Eagle GetGo because I have no idea the fuel they use. Last, again all things equal, but as mentioned earlier, we can't get non ethanol fuel here. Your 87 ethanol free vs. your 87 ethanol contained fuel should show differences, just as if I were on vacation in Denver with my truck and filled with 87' fuel. But, that isn't the comparison. The comparison is taking either 87 Octane Sunoco with ethanol and comparing that to 87 Octane Speedway with ethanol not taking an 87 Octane with ethanol and comparing to a non ethanol fuel. Hope this helps.

 

I dont understand how one can determine one brand from another. I used to live about 2 miles from "tank town", where all the fuel from gulf coast comes into Charlotte, NC. There is only one pipe line. From what people who work there told me, they send regular fuel and then they send the premium through the pipe. Until all the regular is gone, what is sent is used as mid grade. Its a mixture of reg and premium until only premium is in the pipe. There are 4 huge tanks and all the different brand tankers are there pulling from the same tanks. Some dealers do add an additive to the fuel, but it all comes from the same place.

 

For the most part, one can't tell the difference. But, there are times one can tell, and it is obvious. Three Shell stations are in my neighborhood, and I won't go to one of them because I think they don't have fresh fuel delivered regularly. I have experienced a bogging down in two separate vehicles after fueling there.

 

Tier 1 fuels are based on the additive package. Like you said some dealers add additive to the fuel, that's what determines it, not where the base fuel comes from. (More detergents)

 

i stand corrected. i should have said "if the add pack was truly all hype, then you wouldn't feel like your ranger bogs down"

depending on the vehicle (see below) i usually get better mileage on Shell.

by volume, the additives are a very small quantity. true. but buy concentration, who knows. as a rather poor comparison, the water reducers and air entrainment chemicals added to concrete are measured in "hundred weight" sometimes tenths of an ounce per hundred weight. what does that mean? you are adding a .75 cwt(hundred weight) of an fluid ounce of chemical per 100lbs of of cement in a batch of concrete. so you may only be adding 45 ounces of air entrainment per cubic yard of concrete, which will weigh almost 5700lbs. and i can tell you that if you get very far off from the specified amount, you can have a HUGE problem.

what's the point? that a very little bit of very strong chemical can do a lot of work, regarless of the size of batch it is going into.
By your own admission this cannot be true. if the checmicals didn't make a big difference, then your ranger wouldn't care where you filled it up.

as you said, some cars are more sensitive to fuels than others. i can tell you our subaru likes shell, as did the cavalier, the escort and the explorer .. they all got better mileage on shell. the expedition, 79 ford, and v10 seem to get the same crappy mileage no matter what you feed them.
Good quality, yes.. Top Tier, absolutely not.

why clark? because the local shell station went out of business.

FWIW, Clark is a regional brand - that is to say they are not a "no name" fuel.
in short ... no it doesn't clear it up.

you seem to be stuck on the fact that the additives can't make a difference because they put so little in the batch. despite the fact that your ranger runs better on one type of fuel, you refuse to attribute that to the additives in the blend -- while knowing full well that the only difference between the brands is the additives as the base fuel comes from the same place.

as they say. YMMV

 

I don't have any factual info to add to this discussion, but I buy the cheapest gas I can find, and I have had no ill effects in any vehicle.
maybe it helps that the cheap stations near me do huge volume, so they are always getting fresh fuel?